I haven't posted for a while - trying to get caught up with stuff at home before school starts next week.  Gary and I went to Lauritzen Gardens yesterday - it's one of those places that I really should visit more often.  I took bunches of pictures so instead of posting them on this Home Page, I decided to make a whole new page.  It's above to the right.  Enjoy!

I am back in Omaha - this is the end of the summer - so no more Minneapolis for me - :-(!  I miss my grandson desperately!  But - as usual - I have some pictures - as you will see, he needed to go to sleep yesterday.  Also, he is a big help when it comes to Scrabble!

I left Steve and Julie's this morning - and before I went back to Shawna and Derek's I visited the Roseville branch of the Ramsey County library system.  Best. Library. Ever!  The library itself is beautiful, but the children's garden is really special.  There are lots more pictures on my Books, Libraries page.

Duncan's Baptism

I'm back in Minneapolis - came back on Jul 15, and I'm going back to Omaha on the 24th.  I stayed over in Roseville with my brother and sister-in-law and 2 nieces while other family came in to town for Duncan's baptism - which was Jul 20.

The next group of photos is from a garden walk I took around our place.  It was surprising to see how much everything had grown from when I left for Minneapolis (May 31) until I came back to Omaha (Jul 5).

I came back to Minneapolis on July 15 - this time I am staying for about 10 days.  I got a couple pictures of my even-more-adorable grandson, and a few pictures of my daughter and son-in-law's garden.  The corn is taller than me!

Sadly, Duncan had his 2-month appointment and he got 4 shots!  He cried a bit, but he was very good and very brave!  I haven't taken the appropriate pictures yet, but I will post some later.

Just to let you know ahead of time - this may be a fairly long post.  As you can plainly see, it has been a long time since I posted anything.  I will quickly hit the high points - 

• I left Minneapolis on Fri, Jul 5 to go back to Omaha for 10 days.  Had a dentist appt, pedicure, and needed to catch up with friends.  Plus I got some home-type stuff done.  My brother called me before I left Minneapolis to see if I would be back in Omaha on Fri the 5th and/or Sat the 6th.  They came through on their way back to Minnesota from their Grand Canyon vacation.  

• One of the home-type things I did was to make a wine bag and table runner for my friends Kathy and Denny for a housewarming present.

• Kathy and Denny had a housewarming/wine tasting party at their house this last weekend.  Lots of good food - and beverage, of course!

Family disc golf this afternoon - 

Yesterday I took a day trip to Elk River, MN.  I read about a quilt shop there in a quilt magazine, and I figured that as long as I was in the area I might as well try to take it in.  I left late morning and drove about 35-40 miles to Elk River.  

In doing a little more research, I found out that there was another quilt shop in town called Cottage Quilts and Fabrics.  It didn't look like much from the outside, and it was a little difficult to get to because of some road construction. That's a shame because I thought they had a very nice selection of fabrics and lots of completed quilts and wallhangings that were really lovely.  I bought a couple fat quarters and a couple patterns there and got a chance to chat with the owner - nice guy.  

Next stop was lunch, then on to The Noble Quilter - the shop I read about in the magazine.  It was also lovely - bought some more fabric - of course - also a book and a couple patterns.  

No trip to a new town is complete without a visit to the local library - so I added the Elk River Library to my library collection!

Before I left town, I wanted to visit their downtown and go to a restaurant that apparently served hamburgers and malts.  I figured that if they had malts they must have ice cream - my actual goal.  Before ice cream, I decided to take a little walk - and found The Great Room, a couple lovely murals, a fountain, and a view of the Mississippi.  The Great Room is a flea market/antique-type store that supports a group called Faith In Action.  I chatted with the lovely volunteers there and helped support their worthy cause by purchasing 2 book shelves (small and miniature sized), a hanging plate rack, a picture, a tray and a shutter.  

I got lost on the way back to Richfield - the details are boring so I won't go into it any further.  Except to thank Derek and Shawna for their cell phone support! :-)

	Elk River Library
Sculpture inside the library	Children's area at Elk River Library
View from sitting area in library	One of the murals in downtown Elk River
Mural and fountain in Elk River
View of the Mississippi River from the fountain	This is what I bought at The Great Room